Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Colorado Rapids - My game wrapup is here. The West continues to be any one's to grab, with LA moving just 2 points in front of the Rapids, who are tied with Dallas for 2nd. We're tied with RBNY and Dallas for 6th overall. We have the 4th best offense (tied with Columbus) and we're in a 4 way tie for the 3rd best defense.

The Rapids face the LA Galaxy in a USOC play-in game tonight in LA. 8:30 MDT.

Queen of the South - Saturday was the biggest day in the history of the 89 years of Queens football. The Doonhamers travelled to Hampden Park to face Rangers in the final of the Scottish Cup (Scotland's FA Cup), their first appearance in the final. Prior to this season their best finish in the Scottish Cup was in 1950 when they lost to Rangers in the semi-final.

QoS took the game to Rangers early, having the better of the possession in the first 20-25 minutes. They were unable to capitalize however, and Rangers eventually exerted control on the match and made Queens pay for not taking advantage. In the 33rd minute American DaMarcus Beasley (aka RunDMB) was barely fouled outside the area and made a meal of it, drawing a free kick. Kris Boyd stepped up and sent a curling ball into the upper corner of the net to give Rangers the lead. 10 minutes later the Doonhamer's defense had a Keystone Kops moment and allowed RunDMB to follow up his own corner kick with a shot under the goalkeeper to double the lead just before the break. At the halftime whistle the question wasn't who would win, but how much would Rangers win by?

Apparently the boys from Dumfries had a different though though and came out of the locker room determined to prove that they belonged on the pitch with Rangers. They attacked from the halftime whistle and put Rangers back on their heels. In the 50th minute O'Conner brought the ball down the right side and got it into the box where Stevie Tosh managed to get his pelvis on it and redirect it into the back of the net. 3 minutes later Rangers were whistled for a foul and Robert Harris sent a beautiful cross in. Jim Thompson got above 3 Rangers defenders to put it away and just 8 minutes into the second half Queen of the South was back on level terms. Rangers were caught by surprise and Queens pushed for the winner, but it never came. Rangers finally got control of the game again and in the 72nd minute Kris Boyd got enough of a head on a RunDMB corner kick to give Rangers the lead, and eventually the win. The game was not sealed until the final whistle as QoS got one final chance on a free kick outside the box, but the Rangers wall did its job to preserve the win.

While Queen of the South lost the game they proved to everyone watching that they deserved to be out there. Against a non-Old Firm team the Doonhamers probably would have walked away with a win, showing that they are a force to be reckoned with in coming years. This brings their most successful season ever to a close, and they look forward to the UEFA Cup next year, where they'll enter in the final qualifying round.

Tenerife - Another late goal sent CDT down to defeat, this time at home to promotion challengers Real Sociedad. They took the early lead, only for Tenerife to get back on even terms by the break. Sociedad would get the winning goal in the 80th minute, sending the canary Island club even closer to the relegation zone. With 3 games remaining CDT is just 4 points clear of relegation in 13th place.